Landlords use dog-poop DNA tests to track down owners

I recently did the whole mixed-breed dog DNA testing shebang on Alice, using three of the most popular tests available: Wisdom Panel, BioPet and Canine Heritage. And while her results were, um…mixed, it was definitely a fun and interesting process. (More on this experience in a post next week.)

pooprints.com

PooPrints: solving dog-doo whodunnits.

Like me, most people test their mixed-breed dogs simply out of curiosity. Many mutts come from shelters and rescue groups where, although workers and volunteers do their best, a lot of background information isn’t often available at the time of adoption. DNA tests can often shed light on our dog’s ancestors, and thus, provide insight into behavioral traits, nutritional and exercise needs and potential health issues.

But now, some fed up landlords and property managers are using DNA tests to link dogs — and by association, their people — to “unclaimed” poop in the neighborhood. According to a recent news story, the newly opened Timberwood Commons in Lebanon, New Hampshire, has already had problems with some of its residents who aren’t cleaning up after their pets. So manager Debbie Violette decided to get creative. She’s using commercially available DNA dog poop kits from PooPrints, a subsidiary of BioPet Vet Lab, to test the evidence and determine who’s responsible. The company, whose tagline is, “Match the Mess Through DNA,” seems to be on to something considering that Consumer Reports ranked “dog poop” number six on its list of America’s top gripes in 2010 (right below “unreliable internet service” and above “incomprehensible bills”).

“The majority of people are responsible pet owners, and there are a few who are not,” Violette told Newsoxy.com, adding that she’s tried issuing warning letters and other equally ineffective tactics in the past. Now she means business: residents of the 252-unit complex, which more than 30 dogs call home, have been told they must submit samples from their dogs so DNA profiles can be put on file.

Jim Simpson, president of the PooPrints lab, says about 20 properties in the country are using the feces collection kits. Landlords simply scoop a small amount of the offending sample, put it in a solution and mail it back to the lab where the DNA can be extracted. (The mixed breed DNA tests I used were similar except that, thankfully, they only required a cheek swab sample.) The lab then checks to see if it matches any of the profiles listed for the apartment complex.

I wonder what the compliance rate is for residents — and what will prevent them from switching their sample with one from, say, that Chihuahua down the hall? (It happens with drug testing, so why not with dog poop?) Can landlords or property managers legally make such a request? For those who have adopted this policy, is it proving to be an effective one?

Judging by the amount of poop I see lying around, it seems like a potentially good solution, albeit a complicated one. I still wonder though, what exactly is so difficult about just picking the sh*t up?